The Spaniard's Love-Child by Lawrence Kim

Author:Lawrence, Kim [Lawrence, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mistresses, Man-Woman Relationships, Health & Fitness, Spaniards, Contemporary, General, Romance, Pregnancy & Childbirth, Pregnancy, Fiction
ISBN: 0373124562
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

‘TAKE some deep breaths.’

Nell, with her head pressed between her knees, did as the rough voice instructed. When she struggled against the hand on the back of her neck it immediately lifted. She smoothed back her hair as she straightened up, deeply mortified at making such a spectacle of herself.

How on earth was she going to explain away her dramatic overreaction to them when she couldn’t explain it to herself?

‘Sorry about that, I…’

‘There is no need to apologise. I remember how I felt when I realised there was a possibility I would lose both my sons,’ Aria recalled with a shudder.

But you’re his mother, Nell felt like saying, you’re meant to feel like that. I, on the other hand, have no excuse. I am nothing to Raul and he is nothing to me…

‘It’s the end of a pretty stressful day.’ Even to her own ears this sounded pretty lame. ‘And I lost my job.’ She finally worked up the courage to look at Raul and discovered his piercing stare was every bit as suspicious as she had feared.

‘How awful for you, but Raul has a great many people working for him—I’m sure he could find a place for someone as obviously talented as you are if you don’t want to move in here.’ She regarded her son with confident anticipation.

‘No, I couldn’t,’ Raul responded, not bothering to sugar-coat his refusal. ‘In fact the idea is frankly appalling,’ he declared bluntly.

An angry spark appeared in Nell’s eyes. ‘Well, there’s no need to be rude, and just for the record I wouldn’t work for you if you paid me!’

‘I won’t be.’

‘Actually,’ Aria mused, her gentle voice cutting through the heated exchange, ‘you could be right. Working with someone you are close to is often very difficult. I should know, I started out as your father’s secretary.’

‘But we’re not close!’ Nell protested uneasily.

‘If you say so,’ Aria agreed with a worrying knowing twinkle in her eyes. ‘You know, I’m feeling rather tired. I just might go to bed; you know, I think I might sleep now,’ she confided, pressing a maternal kiss on her son’s lean cheek. ‘Now don’t get up. You two enjoy your supper.’

Nell, an expression of dawning dismay in her eyes, watched the elegant figure remove herself. ‘She doesn’t think we’re…? Does she?’

‘My mother is a hopeless romantic and more than capable of tuning out the real world when it suits her. It would seem it suits her to think you and I are romantically linked.’

‘This is all your fault!’ Nell wailed, turning reproachful eyes on his amused face—it did her ego no end of good to know he found the idea of them being romantically involved a joke. Obviously the only place Raul wanted to get intimate was in the bedroom!

‘And you figure that out how, exactly?’

‘You brought me here,’ she said through gritted teeth.

‘And you gave that extraordinary performance of concern at the thought of my imminent demise.’

Nell looked at him in miserable stricken silence, then he laughed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.